Interesting. Emma had (allegedly) engaged in an extramarital affair, and her husband had known about it.
Time for Jane to do a deep dive on the town app.
“Do you happen to remember the title of those books?” she asked. “For the case, I mean.” Not for Conrad or anything like that.
A horn blasted, and Jane jolted. The train had moved on and so had the cars in front of her.
“Gotta go,” she blurted out. “I’ll call you in a bit. In the meantime, be thinking about that book title. For the case. Love you, bye.” She hung up and motored on, entering her neighborhood only ten minutes later.
Ugh. An unfamiliar truck was parked outside her cottage. More lookie-loos in need of shooing? Wait. Bold letters decorated the old, beat-up truck. Peach State Security. She grinned, her bad day suddenly looking up. Beau had returned.
She rushed out of the hearse and to his truck. Huh. He wasn’t in the cab. But he wasn’t nearby either. Not that she could see. Where had he gone?
Hammering noises drew her to the side of the cottage. A ladder was propped against the wall, a shirtless and sweaty Beau in the middle of it.
She marveled at how much he both did and didn’t resemble the little boy he’d once been. One thing was certain: the Beau of her memories hadn’t packed so many muscles. Denim hung low on his waist, revealing the upper band of his underwear. Black briefs, if she had to venture a guess.
He climbed down and approached, towering over her. “You’re back.”
“And you’re here,” she said, confused. “Working.”
He rubbed the back of his neck before motioning to a spot on the ground, where tools and all kinds of things she couldn’t identify were piled. “I brought the equipment you needed and thought I’d get started.”
Without going over a list with her? Do not faint. “I mean this in the best possible way, but, um, everything looks so expensive.”
“The manufacturers of the cameras, glass-break detectors, door and window sensors, and motion sensors gave them to me as a promotional tool, so you don’t owe me a thing.”
Oh, thank goodness! “I’ll still compensate you for the labor, though,” she pointed out.
He averted his gaze. “Tell you what, you put a Protected by Peach State Security sign at the gate, and we’ll call it good.”
The frugal side of her wanted to shout yes! “While I’m happy to display your sign, I’m not happy to take advantage of your time and efforts. I insist on paying your usual fee, but I can only spare two hundred dollars. What will that get me?” If she ate cheap noodles and peanut butter sandwiches for the rest of her life, she could pay him with her food budget. Maybe Beau would convince Fiona to feed Jane blueberry pancakes soon.
“Look,” he said and sighed. “There’s no advantage taking if I’m offering. So, how about this? I’ll work for a few hours today and install as much as I can. If I need to come back, I’ll send you a bill.” He wiped his brow with a blue-and-white bandana. “Since you’re home, I’ll mount the cameras throughout the cemetery. That way, you and your demon spawn won’t have to listen to my hammer. I know I can’t enter the crime scene, but I’d like to position one camera near it.”
“Perfect. I’ll grab a hat and show you the way. Oh, and Rolex is a saint.”
“No need to escort me,” he said with no hint of emotion. “I remember the correct path.”
Man, she missed the sweet, shy boy from before. And, okay, yeah, there’d been hints of this aloofness even then. But not with her. Never her. He’d always had smiles for little Jane. What charm did adult Jane lack? “Glad you remember the way, but I’m still escorting you. You’re officially my favorite person right now, so I’m giving you the VIP treatment. Just give me five minutes.” See? Charming.
She rushed inside, offered Rolex his required attention, and selected the best sunhat for her current dress. Another fit and flare, pink with white polka dots. Then, back out she went. On the porch, she grabbed a dog treat from the metal container next to Fiona’s rocking chair.
“I’m ready,” Jane called, bounding down the steps and joining him.
Beau noticed the treat and arched his brow. “You have a dog?”
“Kind of. Come on, and I’ll introduce you to him. I think you’ll become fast friends.”
They walked the required trail side by side, comfortably silent. A tool belt now circled his waist, but he’d donned a plain white T-shirt, no skin—or underwear—visible. He carried a black duffel over his shoulder, filled with some of the equipment no doubt.
Surely some girl had locked this man down, and this wasn’t a setup arranged by Fiona. As handsome as he was, Jane’s thoughts continued to return to Conrad.